Ruger Mini-14 Foldable stocks (what the heck 10/22s too)

Anyone got one yet? I sure would like one but is it $280 cool? I have a new Mini-14.

Samson-mfg.com

"Pity the fool"

Saw them when they first appeared and was very tempted compared to what the originals cost.

If youre a Mini14 fanboy and always wanted to scratch that itch the $280 doesnt seem that bad.
On the other hand you can buy a complete PSA AR15 for around $400.

Comes down to asking yourself do I want to put $300 into an inferior rifle so its looks like one from the 1980s A team .

I have two Mini-14s with the factory side folding stocks stashed in my safe. I don't feel as cool now as I once did when I thought I had something fairly rare.

I had a total of 5 Mini-14's back in the 80'sand early 90's. One had an aftermarket Choate side folding stock. Tacky looking, was difficult to use and a pain to shot with, especially from prone position.

The Factory folder and all the metal were stainless, and truly was almost rust proof. The factory system is pretty easy to use. But was uncomfortable to shoot with. Many people used closed cell foam insulation around the round bar to protect your face. If you went winter hunting, cold stainless is no more comforting than a rod of ice!

Ivan

I had one of the Choate folding stocks Ivan mentions above on a 1980's Ruger Ranch Rifle. I thought it was pretty good actually, at least mine was, with a solid lock-up when open, though length of pull was a little short. Never tried it prone though. Might want to look around the interweb for one if its cheap enough. $280 sounds like a lot for a stock, but if you like it, why not - its only money... Poor 80's scanned pic of my Ruger below with the Choate stock, next to my old HK-91.

Larry

I have a couple of styles that will fit my 10/22. Just never installed one of them - yet.

Fishinfool: You seem to have a much nicer/later generation than my Choate folding stock. Yours had polymer covering most of the metal, that's very nice. But all of mine saw quite a bit of "dirt time", and the folding lock seemed to have a magnet that drew tiny grime that bound up everything.

My experience was: All the folding stocks were great looking, and if all the did was ride in a car or on a tractor, with an occasional offhand shot, they performed pretty well. But in my protracted war against groundhogs and other vermin, Were in dry dirt and leaf litter more often than not for hours a week every Spring, Summer, & Fall. and a few hours a month in the Winter. I didn't wallow in mud, but that would add an even greater grime factor that the folders wouldn't operate well in!

Ivan

Ivan the Butcher said:

Fishinfool:

My experience was: All the folding stocks were great looking, and if all the did was ride in a car or on a tractor, with an occasional offhand shot, they performed pretty well.

Ivan

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Had one decades ago on a 10/22 at the cabin....... played with another guys mini-14 with a folder a couple of times ................................

Ivan's pretty much summed it up in my limited experience. I rank them up there with pistol griped shotguns!

My NRA Mini-14 now wears a Hogue stock in Gillie green, Weaver 1-3x20 scope with 10 round factory mag. Very untacticooooool looking

oh well

Fishinfool said:

I had one of the Choate folding stocks Ivan mentions above on a 1980's Ruger Ranch Rifle. I thought it was pretty good actually, at least mine was, with a solid lock-up when open, though length of pull was a little short. Never tried it prone though. Might want to look around the interweb for one if its cheap enough. $280 sounds like a lot for a stock, but if you like it, why not - its only money... Poor 80's scanned pic of my Ruger below with the Choate stock, next to my old HK-91.

Larry

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I had one on an AC-556. Now both are gone. I thought the market topped out about 1992. Good thing I'm not an investment advisor !!!!!!

DeathGrip said:

Anyone got one yet? I sure would like one but is it $280 cool? I have a new Mini-14.

Samson-mfg.com

"Pity the fool"

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If they are a faithful copy of the original Ruger folding stock then yes they are $280 cool. I just saw the price of my original Ruger factory folder go through the floor-you used to be able to sell those for $500-$750 in the used market

I remember the Butler Creek folding stocks that I guess are no longer made. What stock are you asking about?

CAJUNLAWYER said:

If they are a faithful copy of the original Ruger folding stock then yes they are $280 cool. I just saw the price of my original Ruger factory folder go through the floor-you used to be able to sell those for $500-$750 in the used market

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Do you like the Ruger folding stock???????????????????

Engine49guy said:

.../

.../ On the other hand you can buy a complete PSA AR15 for around $400.

Comes down to asking yourself do I want to put $300 into an inferior rifle.../

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That's a pretty harsh comparison to a $400 AR-15 from PSA.

Don't get me wrong, I have more than my fair share of AR-15s, including both low end PSA made AR-15s, as well as vintage Colt SP1s and Sporter IIs, as well as high end builds for various specific purposes (varmint hunting, service rifle competition, etc).

However, I also have a 184 series Mini 14 and a 187 series Ranch Rifle and I paid around $400 (used) for each of them.

Both of them have been relentlessly reliable (pro tip" stick with Ruger magazines), and both are capable of the same consistent 1.5 MOA 5 shot groups at 100 yards as my Colt SP1s and M16A1 upper (on an NDS 601 lower), using the same 55 gr Hornady FMJBT handloads at roughly M193 velocity.

Both of them are far superior to my PSA AR-15. It was a piece of ****. About half of it was salvageable and the rest of it is sitting in a box somewhere, with a bunch of spare parts, not worth the $50 or so it would cost me to get a lower for it and reassemble with already on hand spare parts.

Now...to be fair to get that level of accuracy in an early Mini 14 will cost some additional money. An Accu Strut barrel stabilizer cost $100, and a Choate flash hider/front sight cost another $50. Shock buffers are cheap and I turn my own undersized gas port bushings for basically nothing (but they are an $8-$10 part anyway). I also added Tech Sights rear sights to each of them ($80) just because it's a much better sight.

So it took about $160 to turn a 4-5 MOA rifle into a 1.5 MOA rifle, and another $80 to add a higher quality aftermarket sight.

That's still a $640 rifle, and I have come across a lot of AR-15s that cost north of $640 that won't hold consistent 5 shot 1.5 MOA groups, and I've come across a lot more (and been issued a few M16s) that were nowhere near as reliable.

And $640 is still less than what I had into my PSA AR-15 to get it up to an acceptable minimum standard.

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From that perspective, if someone has a Mini-14 and wants a well made, functional and practical folding stock to reduce the overall length for a truck gun, etc., $280 probably isn't too much to pay.

I've been kicking it around. A local shop had an original rifle with one that sold for $1200. I have the same rifle they show in the ad, and only have about $300 into it. It came in a nice stock I sold off for big $$. So adding $280 wouldn't be that big of a deal.

But where does one get reliable 30 round stainless mags to match?

Factory 5,10,20 and 30s were available......................

Are those stocks for the old pencil barrels or the new heavy barrel??

Picture looks like the new heavy barrel

BAM-BAM said:

Factory 5,10,20 and 30s were available......................

Are those stocks for the old pencil barrels or the new heavy barrel??

Picture looks like the new heavy barrel

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Should work with both models. The barrel under the stock/HG is still somewhat thin. I've put both new & old models in a Ruger factory synthetic stock.

I don't think Ruger ever made Factory Stainless mags. And if they did, I'm sure they cost a ton if you could find one.

I have one of the new Samson stocks.
It is OK, but, not perfect.
The finish is very light in color. Much lighter than the picture.
The steel stockliner is not at thick as an original Ruger liner and allows the stock to move fore and aft. And when fully extended the stock has quite a bit of play. It doesn't lock up real tight, but, I don't have an original to compare it to.
I replaced the liner, with a Ruger one, I bought from Brownells, and that secures the receiver into the stock nicely. I will most likely sand down the stock, and stain it darker, like the stock the rifle had.
Samson asked me to submit a review, and I did, and pointed out exactly what I put here. But as you'l see, if you go to their website, my review is not there. They've only put on one 5 star review.

NH1545 said:

I have one of the new Samson stocks.
It is OK, but, not perfect.
The finish is very light in color. Much lighter than the picture.
The steel stockliner is not at thick as an original Ruger liner and allows the stock to move fore and aft. And when fully extended the stock has quite a bit of play. It doesn't lock up real tight, but, I don't have an original to compare it to.
I replaced the liner, with a Ruger one, I bought from Brownells, and that secures the receiver into the stock nicely. I will most likely sand down the stock, and stain it darker, like the stock the rifle had.
Samson asked me to submit a review, and I did, and pointed out exactly what I put here. But as you'l see, if you go to their website, my review is not there. They've only put on one 5 star review.

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Could you post a few pictures?

I have one on order, hopefully should be shipped soon. It will go on my ban era ex Branson Mo police Mini 14 GB

My partner had one back in 84 or thereabouts. I don't know if it was an original. I shot it a few times and didn't like the feel of it on my cheek. Didn't feel as stable as I wanted, but I didn't shoot it much and might have liked it better with more trigger time. It was convenient, but at that time I didn't place much appreciation on convenience.

Let me go slightly off topic here to talk about Mini 14s. I never really appreciated them until we bought them for patrol rifles 2001, which I as Chief Deputy instigated because I don't especially like handguns when you have a choice. The Mimis were the least expensive 5.56 rifle we could afford, 30 for $300 each and we had severe budget limitations. Basic black synthetic stocks. What I found out is that even inexperienced first-time shooters with a little practice could keep all rounds in the chest area of a target at 75 yards, which was the taught extreme range taught for patrol rifles at that time. In real situations, a lot less. So I got an appreciation for them...as patrol rifles. They're not good for consistent head shots at 150 yards, but that's not the role of a patrol rifle. The deputies loved them...they were simple, rugged, and gave confidence to the troops as another weapon with more firepower than a handgun. I think we were the first SO in GA to issue patrol rifles to all patrol deputies. The first day we trained with them was on 9/11. With cheap Wolf ammo, which rusted the gas system closed and required a complete breakdown and de-rusting of all rifles. And that day muted criticism of my agency spending $9000 on rifles for a small agency.

The reason I know we paid $300 for them is because when my agency re-armed with ARs, we active and retired deputies were allowed to buy them for what we originally paid, so of course I bought one.